“I guess I’m a little bit (superstitious),” Parise said today. “I prefer to call them rituals or just things I do to get me in the right mindset. But I think everyone in the league has something they do, something they always do right before the game. I don’t think I’m any different.”

Asked how he thinks he’s playing, Parise did not hesitate.

“Fine. Of course you’d like to find the score sheet here and there, but I feel like I’m making the right plays out there,” he said. “The pucks are going to go in. We just have to bear down a little bit on the chances.”

Teammate Patrik Elias said consistency has been a Parise trait, so he expects the goals to come soon. What makes Parise the player he is?

“Just his work ethic and his approach to the game,” Elias said. “Every game is a new game for him and he does the same things. You’re going to get rewarded for that. He’s that talented and he works hard in front of the net, in the corners, defensively.

“Because the puck doesn’t find its way in sometimes doesn’t mean he’s not doing the things right. Sometimes you need little changes, little tweaks, to relax maybe. It’s not just him. It’s a couple of us on the locker room and we have to get going.”

Parise believes the Devils are playing well, despite trailing, 2-1, in the series against the Rangers.

“I think we’re playing well. I really do. There are definitely some areas where we can do better and we’ve talked about that. If we can have the same effort, maybe bring it up a little more, we’ll be okay tonight,” Parise said.

Yet coach Pete DeBoer feels the need to make changes in his lines. Parise said he isn't surprised by the changes.

“Kind of but not really. You get shut out two out of three games you try and look for something different,” Parise speculated. “Like I said, it’s not from a lack of effort. It’s not that we’re not playing well. Maybe we need a different combination just to spark one or two lines. Hopefully we can keep them like that.”

The Devils fell behind, 2-1, twice in the first round against the Florida Panthers.

“We were in this situation in the first round and that turned out okay. It’s not ideal, but that’s the situation we’re given right now and we’ll do our best to make it 2-2,” Parise noted.

“I think after playing in this league for a while you learn with the highs don’t get too high and with the lows don’t get too low. That’s a part of the game. Everyone goes through those type of things. It’s not from a lack of effort. That’s just the way it’s going right now. (Rangers goalie Henrik) Lundqvist is playing well.”

The Devils, he said, cannot afford to get frustrated.

“As a group we have to make sure we don’t get frustrated,” Parise said. “The opportunities are there. We felt we out-chanced them last game. We just have to be a little sharper.

“I think we’re doing a good job of, when we do lose, moving on. The coaches do a good job of getting us prepared for the next game and I think we do a good job of learning from mistakes and learning what we can do better.”

Can the Devils score more goals against a stingy Rangers defense?

“It’s possible,” Parise insisted. “They do a great job defensively. They don’t give you a lot of time. They don’t give you a lot of room out there. We came in to this series knowing it was going to be low-scoring. That’s the style of hockey we play. We’ll get our opportunities and we’ll put them in.”

Parise dismissed the idea of a home ice advantage.

“I think it’s game by game. That whole aura of home ice is kind of lost now,” Parise suggested. “Road teams are winning so much. L.A. hasn’t lost a road game this whole postseason. I don’t think the home ice advantage is right now what it used to be.

“We’ve been the lower seed in every series, so I guess right now it’s been a good thing for us.”

What is home ice no longer such a factor?

“The league is so equal now. Parity, I think, is the biggest thing,” he said. “And probably it has something to do with all the rinks are the same and the same size. You hear stories about how the old rinks were a lot smaller (Boston and Detroit). That’s gone. Maybe that has something to do with it.”

Parise was asked about solving Lundqvist.

“We have to finish. We’re not over-analyzing or anything. We know he;s playing well,” Parise said. “I think the most important thing is to not pass up shots when you have them. And to not look for the perfect shot. We just have to keep putting pucks on him and maybe we’ll get a bounce here and there. Then who knows what will happen?

“We’ve been down 2-1 before. There’s nothing we can do about it right now. We just have to try and even up the series. There is no need to get frustrated. We can only tonight and try to tie it up. The games are hard. That’s a good team. But we feel we’re right there.”